Plummet
by Calai'di
Summary: Sort-of sequel to Freefall. At the end of the day, Gauche waited to see him again for as long as he could, but it didn't matter. He wasn't coming. V/Gauche


**Pairing:** V/Gauche

**Rating:** T

**Summary:**_ Sort-of sequel to Freefall. At the end of the day, Gauche waited to see him again for as long as he could, but it didn't matter. He wasn't coming._

* * *

**Plummet**

As soon his duel was over and he was back in the main stadium, Gauche started looking for him. V. Christopher Arclight. He'd hardly been able to get the other man off his mind since their encounter that morning, and by the end of the day, he was determined not to let it be a one time thing. For one thing, he needed to pay that asshole back for their duel. If that had been a _real_ duel, V wouldn't have stood a chance.

But it was more than that, and it was more than just wanting a fuckbuddy, and that was what had him scanning every inch of the stadium for a sign of long, silver hair.

And once he was satisfied that the man was nowhere in the stadium, it was what had him racing to the control rooms. V could have finished his own duel long before Gauche had finished his and then left as soon as it was over. There might be a sign of him on the security tapes.

But while he was able to find out just who had won the one-on-one duels—and that he wasn't one of them—there was no sign that he'd left the stadium yet. After starting his duel with Kaito (which had been before his own duel, he'd been right), there was no sign of him at all.

There was no explanation for it, but Gauche thought it meant there was a good chance he hadn't left yet. So he barked out an order to keep an eye out for him on the security cameras and made his way to the entrance of the stadium to wait for him.

* * *

He wasn't coming.

It was hard to reconcile himself to that. There was no other way out of this stadium, still no one had seen him leave, and yet he didn't seem to be coming. It had been hours; the sky was swiftly growing dark. He'd long since been concerned enough to order a sweep of the stadium to make sure he wasn't hurt and unable to move or call for help.

But he wasn't coming and no one had found him yet.

Gauche sighed and dragged his fingers through his hair and slid down the wall to sit on the ground. It was so stupid, waiting here like this, like he actually had a chance of finding V again, but it was the only lead he had. no one knew where that family lived or how to contact them. They'd appeared out of nowhere.

But he'd only thought about leaving his post once, when Droite had called him to let him know she was okay. He hadn't even known she'd been hurt. He still felt racked with guilt about that. He'd been a half-second away from going to her side, but she'd only smiled and basically flat out denied him. She was going to sleep a while, so he didn't need to hang around, and besides, he looked like he was busy anyway...

Gauche had resolved to go to her once he'd spoken to V, but it was beginning to look like that might never happen. He wasn't coming.

Where was he?

* * *

"Gauche."

Gauche started out of his dozing in time to see Kaito landing lightly in front of him. The sky had been dark for at least an hour now; it had long since been time to abandon this dream and go home for the night. Or to the hospital to see Droite.

But he hadn't left yet. He wondered vaguely if someone had been concerned that he was missing and that was why Kaito was here.

"What are you doing out here?"

Gauche sighed and dragged himself to his feet. "It doesn't matter. He never showed."

"He...?" Kaito repeated, eyeing him curiously.

"V," Gauche said. He wasn't sure why he felt like sharing even that much. He must have been more tried than he thought.

Kaito blinked at him in surprise. "_V_? You were waiting for V?"

"Like I said, it doesn't matter," he muttered irritably. "I'm leaving."

"Wait," Kaito said, darting a hand out to stop him. He pulled it back just as fast when Gauche glared at him and hesitating in asking whatever it was he still wanted to know. Or maybe he'd been about to offer up some information (yeah, right)—either one could have been the cause for that unsure look on his face.

Wait...Chris had always been closer to Kaito than anyone else back then, and even now Kaito had been the only one he'd sought out at that party...so maybe...

"You don't know where I could find him, do you?" Gauche asked, taking a step closer to him. He was tired and desperate and he hated that _Kaito_ might be his only lead.

Kaito stood his ground and stared at him with that same bewildered but hesitant look. The longer that went on, the more Gauche grew sure that he knew _something_. Kaito had been the one V had dueled today, too, so surely...

"What happened to him after your duel?" Gauche demanded, taking another step. "Where did he go?"

Kaito finally looked away, schooling his face into a more neutral expression as he stared at nothing. He didn't even have the courtesy to look back at him when he answered.

"V—Chris went home, I think. But I don't know where that is."

He shook his head and looked back at Gauche with his usual piercing stare. "Mr. Heartland's been looking for you. Don't stay out too much longer."

He turned to leave before Gauche could demand anything else from him, like that maybe they should look, maybe they should try and figure out where V lived, since wouldn't Kaito want to know that information too? But Gauche could only stand there and clench his fists as he watched Kaito fly away. Maybe that was what he'd be going to do anyway, without either of them having to suggest it out loud. Maybe...

Gauche took in a deep breath and started walking. If Mr. Heartland was looking for him, he'd definitely wasted too much time on this.

* * *

The worst part about all of this, Gauche thought, was just not _knowing_. Anything could have happened in that duel or the time since. He could have been hurt and left before Kaito could notice. He could have been hurt on the way home. He could have gotten lost and been wandering the streets of heartland alone. He could have been perfectly fine and preparing to watch the rest of the WDC on T.V. with his family...

He could have had no interest in running into Gauche again, whether for good or bad.

Gauche sighed and flopped over to half lay on Droite's bed. It wouldn't surprise him; he thought he'd been more invested in this even during their brief meeting that morning. But that only made him more depressed. In a ridiculously short amount of time, he'd _wanted_ V to notice him, to have a part of his heart always devoted to giving him attention. It had just seemed so difficult to get him to care about anything at all that any time he'd seemed to was something to be treasured.

He snorted and closed his eyes. It didn't matter anyway. They'd probably never cross paths again.


End file.
